During Mr. Robinson's tenure, he compiled a record of 408-165-5 and sent over 200 players to the professional ranks. Numbers matched by very few in his profession, Coach Robinson taught offense and defense, mowed the football field, fixed sandwiches for road trips through towns that would not serve blacks in restaurants, taped his players' sore joints, and even wrote game stories for then newspapers. Then as now, he had strict standards of personal conduct and educational achievement for his players.
Anyone that has ever played collegiate football or been close friends with a player who played college football can probably attest to the extremely regimented life they live. For the price of tuition, room, board, books, etc., a college football player is required to perform on the field to the best of their ability while attending class and maintaining a minimum GPA. This is accordance to NCAA rules and restrictions that prohibit collegiate athletes from working and earning wages to do basic functions like feed and clothe themselves; they cannot as much accept monies to go home for a funeral unless it is cleared by the NCAA.
The daily life of a football player consists of practice, weightlifting, meetings, media functions, alumni functions, class, tutoring, games, travel, etc. Some of these things happen multiple times a day, therefore time management becomes critical. When you sign up to play collegiate football, it is a good chance you have given up Thanksgivings and Christmas' for the next four years. It is a virtual guarantee as a collegiate basketball player.
In contrast, the chemistry major attending school on academic scholarship is not required to do any of the aforementioned except attend class and maintain a minimum GPA. Even then, if the student is smart enough, they may not even need to go to class.
Obviously, I am missing a lot of other points but I think it is clear that there is a stark difference between the student-athlete (on athletic scholarship) and a regular student on an academic scholarship. It is not even close.
Grambling football players made the news the last few weeks because they refused to play a game at Jackson State and threatened to boycott the season if changes did not occur. Here are some of the highlights of the letter they wrote to administrators at Grambling:
- Sports complex is littered with mildew and mold. The mold and mildew are so rampant, Lamar University came to play and they refused to go into the locker room during halftime
- Weight room, game, and practice gear are in terrible condition. The floor in the weight room is coming up causing players to trip; equipment is falling, tearing and ripping apart. Uniforms (game and practice) are poorly washed which have led to multiple staph infections among the players
- Since the summer, they have never received Gatorade or muscle milk and forced to drink water out of house underneath the stadium. Practice is in grass up to their knees and players were not even given housing for football camp and this is while they were paying for summer school out of pocket
- Road games scheduled in Kansas City and Indianapolis were taken by bus that took over 14 hours minimum to reach and they immediately returned home after the games. In contrast, both the President and AD traveled by plane to both games.
- Funds donated to the football team were diverted or rejected because they were earmarked for the football team and not the university.
In a college environment, rarely do you see young men prepared for the rigors of adulthood. They can't process, or even properly distinguish, the various lessons, influences and characters they'd be presented with, during a time in which they are still trying to find themselves. Here you have a team of 18 to 22 year-old who decided to take a stance against what could be considered, how dare I say it, modern day slavery. Of course there will be critics out there that say, "they are receiving a free education." If that is the case, why aren't the students who are on academic scholarships held to the same rules as the athletes? Give you a hint, throw you a lifeline....because one brings in money to the university and the other does not.
These brave young men took a stance, as a team, and said you must change our conditions or we will not play for you. They did not ask for money, awards, or accolades; they asked for decent equipment, clean uniforms, and some Gatorade so they can at least have a fighting chance to compete against their peers. I do not see the Chemistry majors being denied the Bunsen burners they need to complete labs. Why should the football players be denied their basic needs to compete since they are a MAJOR funding resource for the institution.
Grambling is known for so many traditions; a slamming band, the Bayou Classic, and Eddie Robinson. When you speak of HBCUs, no doubt you have to talk about good ole Grambling State. Now when you talk about Grambling, you have to mention the 2013 Grambling Football Tigers that took a peaceful stand against the administration and won. They received all they demanded and returned to the football field with their pride in tact and smiles on their faces.
Eddie Robinson, proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha, had a great saying, "I do not just want to win the game, I want to win the guy." Eddie is in Heaven right now cheering his Tigers on and probably could not be anymore prouder of his team. I have never step foot on Grambling's campus and may never but right now I am their biggest cheerleader. They became men right before our eyes because they did something never done before and they did it for all the right reasons. They did it as a team, their presentation was flawless, and they represented themselves the best way anyone could ask for. They learned the biggest lesson you could learn in school:
"Don't live only to learn what you're told to know. Live, learn, and become familiar with as much as you can, so that you can shape the person you're capable of becoming."
GO TIGERS!!!!
Bravo! Bravo! Pretty work Mr. Moore!
ReplyDeleteI saw Doug Williams in the news. I'm sure this is what it was about, but I didn't catch the story. Please tell me he was not a part of the problem!?